Chapter Text
It was a night like any other for Splinter and his sons. Dinner, being accompanied by their dear friends April O’Neil, her beloved pet Mayhem, and the warrior from the future, Casey Jones Jr. The lair was filled with witty banter and laughter as everyone stuffed themselves with numerous variations of pizza toppings and chugging fruity soda. Times of peace the Hamato family never thought they’d experience again after the events of the Krang invasion. Two years have now passed and the Turtles along with their human friends embrace the tranquility that came with their victory.
However, the more time passed, the more the mystery of their now unknown futures lingered on in Splinter’s mind. He watched, seeing his four sons joking and teasing one another with their two friends. It brought a smile to Splinter’s face, yet he couldn’t help but think of the question he’s been wanting to ask the boy from the future for some time.
“Casey?” Splinter interrupts the mist of his sons and April’s silliness at the dinner table, “May I ask you something?”
Everyone’s attention turned to the old rat who sat at the very end of the table. The notice of Splinter’s grin caught everyone off guard. It felt unsettling. They stopped eating, some still with mouths full of pizza frozen mid chew. Who knows what was about to come out of Splinter’s mouth. The only one who didn't sense anything off was Casey Jr. himself. Then again, he’s still new to the family, not used to the nonsense that Splinter will sometimes cause on a daily basis. April and the Turtles pitied his nativity.
"In the future…” Splinter continued, all eyes were on him, “did any of my sons have a special someone in their lives?"
The Turtles' eyes widened, surprised their father would bring up such a topic. Donnie choked on his slice of pizza. Leo blushed from the mere idea entering his mind. Mikey chuckled from the question, and Raph did not seem phased at all. Being the oldest, he had a feeling his father would bring up the topic sooner or later. He can’t blame his dad for wanting to know his son’s lives in the future, if they were ever able to find some form of happiness during dark times. He just wished it wasn’t Casey Jr. caught in the crossfire on this particular discussion.
“W-What do you mean by that, sir?” the boy asked.
Splinter chuckles from Casey’s confusion, “You know, did any of my sons have someone in their lives that they were passionate about? In love with, perhaps?”
“Uh, Splints?” April chimes in, sensing the tension already beginning to rise with the twins giving their dad death glares, “Do you really think this conversation is necessary right now?”
"As their father I have a right to ask!" Splinter shouts before turning back to Casey Jr. with an eager expression, "Well?"
"Oh, um... I'm sorry, Mr. Splinter, but to my knowledge... No." Casey’s voice was soft. Everyone at the table could see his face starting to blush from embarrassment as he gave more details to his answer, "Master Leonardo and the others were so caught up in the rebellion and fighting the Krang that they didn't have time for things like that. When you're fighting a war, love and romance isn’t on anyone’s mind."
“I see…” Splinter grew quiet, sitting back in this chair. A wave of disappointment overcame him, his smile just seconds ago vanished, "So my sons ended up with no one... no future daughter or son in laws..." he then gasped, slamming his hands on the table in shock, "NO GRANDCHILDREN??!!"
"Pops, relax." Raph says, touching Splinter’s shoulder to calm him, "That was the bad future where the Krang took over, remember? So who knows, maybe things will turn out differently for us this time around."
"I suppose..." looking up at his son with curiosity, he said, "Raphael, you’re the oldest. Have you started looking for a partner yet?"
Raphael’s eyes widened, he didn’t expect his father to be so forward with his question, "Not really. Dating isn't really on my mind right now.”
"You just said things will be different,” he crossed his arms, pouting, “and Future Boy over there said that you and your brothers in his future had no time for dating due to the invasion. Well, there’s no more invasion! So, when will I be expecting you to get married?!"
Raph plays it cool, rolling his eyes. This isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation, so Raph gave his father the same old answer, “It’s too soon to tell. I’m a busy guy, so I don’t have time to-”
Leo laughs, interrupting his brother, “Busy doing what? Last I checked, you’re not the leader anymore, it's moi!” he gestures to himself giving a smug expression, “So you have plenty of free time now to find yourself a lady friend.”
“You’re not helping, Leo!” Raph grumbles, turning back to his dad trying to keep calm, “You have nothing to worry about, Pops. Maybe someday I'll find someone and settle down. Who knows how any of our lives will turn out.”
"But there's no way to say for certain..."
Splinter thinks it over for a moment, rubbing his chin. After all these years Raphael has never had a partner. None of his sons have. Splinter never even recalls any of them ever going on a date! Never once have they come home to introduce him to their new boyfriend or girlfriend. A day Splinter has always looked forward to, never came. Opportunities to gush over his sons’ partners, to show them embarrassing baby photos and tell stories from his sons’ childhoods. With his oldest reaching adulthood now, it worries Splinter even more that this day will never come. Unless he does something about it…
That’s when Splinter recalls an idea he had in the past. One he expressed to himself aloud after a confrontation with Raphael who was screaming about a children’s TV show character wreaking havoc in their home. Unaware of the lurking threat at the time, it left Splinter irritated, but gave him an idea to marry his sons off someday. Though he quickly dismissed the idea due to his boys’ immaturity, they have all proved in recent years to have grown and matured into young men.
Now that his oldest is entering into adulthood, maybe perhaps this idea wasn’t a bad one, but with whom? Certainly not April. Though when he first met the girl many years ago and saw her closeness with his sons, Splinter was led to believe that maybe someday she'd marry one of his boys. Time went on, and the idea left Splinter’s mind, seeing April as already one with the family and Hamato clan. He grew to love her like his own daughter and his sons have never once shown romantic interest in her, only seeing her as their best friend. Splinter didn’t want to force something between any of them and ruin such a beautiful friendship. Then there is Cassandra Jones, the future boy’s eventual mother. Though his parentage is unknown of who exactly the father of the time traveler is, Splinter did not want to take any chances of interfering with Casey Jr.’s eventual existence when it comes to Cassandra meeting her future partner. Any other suitable ladies his sons have met have never gone as far as being their friend or their enemy. Options are slim, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. Sometimes you got to search for your child’s true love instead of letting them wait around for it to come to them.
“What if I found someone for you, Raphael?" Splinter suggests.
Everyone was silent for a moment, letting the idea sink in, until suddenly the whole table bursts into laughter. The soda April was drinking squirted out of her nose, resulting in poor Mayhem who sat on her lap getting soaked. Leo was repeatedly slamming his fist on the table as tears of joy ran down his face. Donnie and Mikey leaned on each other for support to not fall off their seats for their hysteria. Even Casey Jr. couldn’t help but giggle from the mere idea being shared.
Splinter was not phased, looking at his son with a serious expression, patiently waiting for a response.
"Yeah sure, Pops.” Raph said in a sarcastic tone. He continues to chuckle from the amusing thought, not noticing his father’s earnest gaze, “Go ahead and find me a date!
Splinter gasped, smiling excitedly. His long rodent tail began to wag from side to side, “You mean it?!”
“Sure!” Raph snickers, “Better yet; go find me a fiancée!”
"Alright! I will!"
Getting up from his seat, Splinter races out of the lair in a flash, head held high and determination on his face. Everyone collected themselves from their laughter, noticing Splinter had left. With only the Turtles and their two human friends remaining at the dinner table, a feeling of amusement aroused by the outcome of the conversation this evening.
Casey Jr. however looks at the Turtles and April with concern, "Do you think Mr. Splinter is serious about this?"
"Don't be ridiculous.” Raph says, returning to eating his pizza, “Dad has always talked nonsense about having us do speed dating or setting us up for blind dates, but in the end he never goes through with it.”
“Yeah!” Mikey nods, “Dad has always been the type of parent who’s all talk but takes no action when it comes to this kind of stuff.”
“I don’t know guys, he seemed very determined to-”
“Don’t worry about it, Casey!” Raph smiles, leaning back in his chair calm and collected, “Just watch. Dad will forget about this in a day and then he'll be off my shell."
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From the town square of the Hidden City a screeching voice echoes loudly through the streets for all to hear, “ATTENTION ALL ELIGIBLE WOMEN OF THE HIDDEN CITY! WHO WOULD LIKE TO MARRY MY SON?!”
Splinter made it his mission to find a match for his oldest son. Running around the Hidden City, Splinter searches for any young mutant or yokai woman. He’d ask the straight forward question “Are you single?”, and if the answer was anything but “No” he followed it up with “Would you be interested in marrying my son?”.
Unfortunately, every answer Splinter received was somewhat same:
“Um, no thank you.”
“Not interested.”
“Leave me alone, you old rat!”
After hours of the repeated cycle of rejection, Splinter found himself sulking on one of the Hidden City’s benches, feeling defeated. He has spoken to numerous young single women, and they all denied his offer of marrying his son. It made Splinter wonder what exactly he was doing wrong, and if he’s unsuccessful with finding his son a fiancée, his mission fails. Raphael will be alone without a wife and Splinter will have no future grandchildren to spoil.
“How could any of these ladies not be interested in Raphael?!” Splinter said aloud, hopelessly confused by his predicament, “He’s kind, loyal, and handsome just like me! And I’ve dated plenty of men and women in my days! It was easy for me! So why is it so hard to find my son a fiancée?!”
Splinter vowed to himself he would not return home until he found someone, anyone, for his oldest son yet still no luck. What will Raphael think if Splinter returns home without a future bride for him? His son asked him to do this for him and yet he found no lady who is even slightly interested. Seeing the grand clock in the Hidden City continue to tick, it taunts Splinter of the many hours that have gone by during his search. All hope was starting to fade.
Splinter sighs, his elbows on his knees as his hands rested on his cheeks, “It's going to take a miracle to find any girl who-”
“Excuse me! Would you be interested in marrying my daughter?!”
Splinter’s ears perked up. Searching for the source of the voice, he quickly spots him. An older male lizard yokai. He was tall and very muscular, with his scales being a mixture of brown, black and beige. His long tail that was swinging from side to side had a pattern of three ring-like markings wrapped around it. He dressed in casual wear of black pants with a belt around his waist. His shirt was a dark green collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his forearms, exposing some noticeable scars. His most notable feature however was his missing left eye covered with a patch while his right was a fiery hazel. He would be an intimidating man if he didn’t look so frantic with sweat stains in his shirt.
Splinter watched as he saw the yokai running up to each young male passing in the streets of the Hidden City. Like a mad man, he’d ask the repeated question, “Would you like to marry my daughter?!”
“Hmm…” Splinter’s interests pique. Seems he’s not the only one in this situation. A blessing sent from the heavens perhaps? Splinter knew he would not pass up this chance.
Getting up from the bench, he quickly approached the older lizard gentleman who just faced another rejection of his offer from a foolish young lad. Clearing his throat, Splinter speaks up, “Excuse me?”
The lizard man turns, surprised to see the small rat mutant confronting him, “Can I help you?”
“Pardon my interruption, but I couldn’t help but overhear your situation. You have a daughter you’d like to marry off?” Splinter smiles, “Well, look no further, I have the answer for you!”
The man glares down at him with disgust, “Sorry buddy, but you’re too old for my daughter. Get lost.”
He hissed at Splinter, revealing his bright blue tongue and sharp teeth. Certainly an intimidation tactic but all Splinter did was chuckle from the misunderstanding, “No! No. I’m not referring to myself. I have a son who is looking for a wife.”
The lizard man begins to smile, his demeanor quickly switching from hostile to welcoming, “You don’t say?”
Splinter nods, offering up his hand, “My name is Hamato Yoshi.”
Joining their hands together in a firm handshake, the lizard man spoke with confidence, “The name’s Sal. Pleasure to meet you.”